Enough of a 'fuss' for Gordon to go

Published on Saturday 8 December 2007 01:14

IT IS hard to come to any conclusion other than there is only one reason why Charlie Gordon has chosen not to resign as an MSP over his part in the Wendy Alexander donor row. The reason is that Labour will use the former leader of Glasgow City Council as a sacrificial lamb when the Electoral Commission publishes its report into this messy affair. If Charlie goes now, perhaps someone else - even Wendy herself - will have to go then.

One cannot help but come to the view that the Cathcart MSP's language in assessing the matter is ill-judged. He claims his constituents are solidly behind him, adding: "I apologise to them for this fuss."

To dismiss this as a "fuss" is akin to Henry McLeish's famous attempt to play down the office row which later saw him quit as First Minister as "a muddle, not a fiddle". It is to downplay the seriousness of an issue which, at the very least, displays a level of chaos and incompetence at the heart of the Labour Party in Scotland.

Paul Green, the businessman at the heart of the affair, said he was told by Mr Gordon that donations he made to Labour were above-board - although he lived in the Channel Islands and should not have been allowed to give money. Mr Gordon admits he "unwittingly made serious errors" and considered the matter serious enough to quit his transport brief. He should go as an MSP now - this is not just a little fuss.